The construction of the fursona as antimimesis of the human and fear of the copy

Abstract

This paper aims to analyse the rejection of resemblance in the construction of fursonas, in the furry community, investigating motivations and origins behind this practice. The term fursona, a portmanteau of “furry” and “persona”, indicates the anthropomorphic alter ego that furries constitute and with which they deeply identify, sometimes even interpreting and performing their fursona (wearing fursuits in public). This paper presents the two distinct forms of resistance and fear of resemblance between furries. The first one is proposing oneself in an antimimetic form with respect to human nature (the fursona is seen as a counterpart, often improved, of one’s own being); the second one is the fear of seeing one’s own fursona copied, reused by another person. The goal is to map and identify – also through an oppositional comparison with other communities in some ways similar, such as that of monster girls fandom or brony – the role played by the fear of resemblance among furries.